Fare Thee Well
by Tristan-the-Dreamer
Summary: Trauma Center: New Blood. What happens at Caduceus when a medicine gets pulled off the market...one that played a greater role than one might guess? Rated T for safety. Robertcentric. COMPLETED! WOOHOOOOOO!
1. Hard News

"**Fare Thee Well" **By Tris

A/N: Soooo…I read a couple paragraphs in a book and it just sparked this Robertcentric NB story. Thanks Natalie, 'cause she showed it to me! If it wasn't for her, this little sucker might not exist. The second and final chapter is nearly completed, but needs some honing. I will warn you, I'm planning on making the story a bit open-ended. Anything could happen…Ah yes the copyright stuff. I don't own any characters in this story, Atlus does. I do however as far as I know own the fictional medicine I made up and its names. I included a handy-dandy pronunciation guide! Yay okay on with the show. And as always, reviews are danced to!

**Pronunciation guide**

**Xapier**: ZAY-pee-ere

**Esparai:** ESS-pa-ray (play on the French verb, "to hope")

**EDIT:** Don't know how many people are waiting with baited breath for the next chapter, but just so you know it is coming along. I want to get it just right and it is getting there!

* * *

"Do you have any idea what this is about?" Val muttered out of the corner of her mouth to Markus. 

"Nope. But I highly doubt we're going to be planning parties. Just go with the flow, I guess. Hey, maybe we're all getting a raise!"

"Okay." Irene Quatro spoke up from her position at the head of the table. "We're all here, so we can begin. This is an extremely serious topic, so everyone pay attention. We've called this emergency meeting because a medicine has been pulled off the market. This drug, generic name "Xapier" and brand name, "Esparai," has had incredible effects on people suffering from Hemophilia, that it, lack of blood clotting. The results in clinical trials were 99.9 percent effective."

"So why was it pulled off the market?" Dr. Tsuji asked.

Irene sighed. "It's heartbreaking. The woman who was the head of the research for this drug, apparently quite a genius, had it in her will that if, at the time of her death, a medicine she had been strongly responsible for was not been used for very long, it must be pulled off the market."

"Why?" snapped Dr. Everett.

"Can't you see?" Dr. Tsuji asked. "She was obviously afraid that a deadly side effect would pop up that had been missed in trials. She wanted to be there if her creation went wrong."

"That's exactly it, Kanae," Irene enforced. "And now this brilliant scientist is dead from a car wreck. Her wishes have been respected; Xapier is no longer available, as of this Thursday."

"Of all the stupid f—"

"Kanae, that's enough! No one can fully understand what was going through her mind. Let's get to what this is going to mean for Caduceus."

"What do you mean, Director?" Markus asked. "We weren't performing any procedures that would be harmed by a sudden cut-off of this drug."

"Actually, Dr. Vaughn, _all_ of our research procedures are going to be effected by this decision."

"Wh-what!?"

"Let me explain." She bowed her head briefly. "Robert was born with hemophilia."

"Robert?" Val gasped. "He never said anything about…!"

"He didn't want people to feel sorry for him. Incidentally, he's not at this meeting because he couldn't face you all as you learned this about him. But yes, he has hemophilia. He almost died when he was a teenager and accidentally sliced his thumb with a vegetable knife.

You're all intelligent people and I'm sure you've already put the pieces together. With Xapier off the market, Robert isn't going to be able to control his condition anymore. Yes, we can buy out the stockers, but the fact of the matter is that no more is going to be made, and in the end no matter how much we stocked up, it would run out."

"This…is a difficult situation," Val ventured. "Surely there are numerous hazards in the lab for getting cut. Broken glass, scalpels, even getting burned on the Bunsen…"

"You're right, Val," Markus acknowledged. "And even if the blood flow was stopped with pressure, the spilled blood could contaminate the cultures or whatever he was working on at the time."

"This is horrible," Kanae murmured.

Dr. Everett nodded sadly in agreement, then asked, "I guess the question we all have is…what is Robert going to do? Will he stay, find some way around this…?"

Irene pressed her lips together and looked skyward, as if hoping that a spirit had written some wisdom on the ceiling. "Robert and I had a private discussion earlier this afternoon. He gave the matter deep thought, and in the end he feels it would be for the best if he left. He would rather find a job that doesn't put his life at risk, and like you said Markus, he was also worried that he might hurt Caduceus' progress.

"So there you have it. We're going to be short one head of R&D. It kills me to talk about replacement—I know, Val, I know---but Caduceus has to move forward. Disease isn't going to give us a break."

"Look, can't we write to the company and get it through their heads that the future of a powerful medical organization is more valuable than some mad scientist's…narcissm?" Markus asked.

"Markus is right. Sometimes medicines do suddenly turn out to have bad side effects. Okay, so what? THAT'S the time to pull it, not when you might actually be holding a silver bullet." Kenae's breathing rate was skyrocketing.

"I know how infuriating this is. Believe me. Robert and I contacted the head of the organization and explained everything, but it was like talking to a brick wall. And I imagine they're going to block our calls from now on, so it's no use trying again."

"I can't believe Robert is just going to leave us," Dr. Everett said softly. "He's not going to slip away without saying goodbye, is he?"

"He better not!" Kanae exclaimed. "We need to have a farewell party for him, right in this room!"

"Kenae, that is a great idea!" Val said. "Madame Director?"

Irene smiled through clouded eyes. "Yes. We need to honor his dedication to Caduceus. Let's start the planning as soon as possible!"

_To be continued…_


	2. Farewell Party

A/N: Okay, okay, enough obsessing over getting every word perfect! I owe it to everyone who read chapter one to finish the tale. This is probably the geekiest thing I have ever written, btw. Science puns abound, you've been warned…

* * *

"Alright, who made the DNA cake?" Robert asked, laughing as he examined the confection laid out on Irene Quatro's confetti-covered office table.

"I did!" Dr. Tsuji said proudly, tucking a strand of dark hair behind her ear. "I baked a vanilla cake and cut it in a twisted ribbon shape, and used the cut-out hemispheres to build the ribbon even longer. The frosting is chocolate buttercream," she added, watching him take a closer look.

"I see you've included the nucleotides as well," Robert remarked, adjusting his glasses as he gazed at the pink candy letters of G, C, A and T. "Are those…" he paused, noticing the blue-wrapped packages lying near the cake. "Are those for me?"

"Yes. The flat one is from Markus; the boxier one is from me."

"I love how you bent over backwards to avoid saying 'larger' and 'smaller,'" Markus told Irene with a grin. "But yeah, that one's from me, Robert. Hope you like it."

"I have no doubts about that. Dr. Tsuji, what do you say we sample this confection of yours?"

"I was hoping someone would say that!" Elena said with a relieved smile. "It's making my mouth water just to look at it."

Justin and Val had been eyeing the cake as well, so Irene brought out the paper plates and a silver cake knife. She was poised to cut the first slice when Robert cleared his throat. "Yes, Robert?"

"Madame Director, I know you are aware my time of being able to use a knife without hesitation is running down. As trivial as it may seem, I ask permission to serve the cake."

The room fell silent.

"Of-of course, Robert." She handed the knife over.

"Elena?" Justin said in surprise, turning at the sound of a sniff.

"I…I haven't cried while watching a cake be cut since my cousin's wedding," Elena sniffled, wiping her eyes with her wrist.

Robert had already placed several pieces on plates. He carried two over to Elena. "Here, my dear. You choose first. Intron or extron?"

"Extron, please," she said with a tiny smile, wiping the last few tears away with the back of her slender hand.

"Excellent choice." He handed a piece over. "It's important to keep things organized and separated properly, but it's just as important to have something of substance and value to organize. Some people get too caught up on introns."

"I'll remember that." Elena accepted the piece, squeezing his hand as she did so.

Just as Robert was handing the last plate to Justin, the door burst open and Cynthia stepped in, breathless. "Sorry I'm late! I had to finish up a report and fax it to Humani. Did I miss anything?" She was looking stylish in sandblasted jeans, beaded moccasins, and a soft peach t-shirt.

"Nothing major, we were just about to eat the cake. Want some?" Val asked, picking up her own plate and offering it to her friend. "Kenae made it herself."

"Oh! I don't usually eat desserts, but…it does look tempting." Cynthia accepted the piece and took a seat across from Robert. "I-I'm really going to miss working with you, Robert," she said sadly, looking down. "You taught me so much."

"I'm going to miss you, too, Cynthia," Robert replied softly, a shadow crossing his usually sunny face. "You were a great help."

Markus put down his fork. "Are we coming to the sad part already? I was hoping we could put off the emotional farewells at least until we finished eating."

"Goodbyes aren't automatically depressing," Kenae protested, picking a candy letter off her plate and biting it in half with an irritable clip of her teeth. "Look, why don't we go around the table and say a memory of working with Robert? I'll start."

Despite what Kenae had said, once everyone had shared their memories there was a long moment of silence before the party mood was recovered enough to tackle the presents.

* * *

"Ah, Madame Director, the newest edition of "Grey's Anatomy"! It's beautiful." He thumbed through the gold-edged pages, pausing now and then at favorite bits. "Look at the new illustration for—"

"Uh, that's okay, Robert," Irene said, holding up a palm. "We trust they are fantastic illustrations. Glad you like it."

"You know me too well. It's the perfect book!"

"Don't forget to open mine," Markus put in.

"Oh yes of course." Robert gently lay the heavy book down and picked up Markus' floppy gift. He carefully slid his thumb under the fold in the paper and ran it along the edge to peel up the tape. "A…shirt?"

"Yeah, but look what it says on it," Val said, hiding a smile behind her hand.

Robert grasped the black t-shirt by the sleeves and held it up. In large white block letters, front and back, was the sentence "I Have a Golgi Complex."

"Where in the world did you…?"

"I got the letters at a teachers' supply store and ironed them on," Markus said sheepishly. "Like it?"

"I do. Very much." Robert gave him a warm smile. "Thank you, colleague."

"I didn't know you had a quirky sense of humor, Markus," Cynthia remarked.

"Well…I guess you learn something new every day, huh? Glad you like it, Robert."

The sun was beginning to slant lower and lower across the table, the mood was quieting again and everyone seemed to know the final time had come. Elena and Kanae began throwing away trash.

As everyone was leaving, Markus caught Robert by the sleeve. "Robert, I swear that I'm going to work on replicating Xapier. I'm dead serious. I don't care if I have to break into the storehouse and find the ingredients written in invisible ink on the wall. I'm gonna do this, and you're coming back when I do. Got it?" Markus' voice was growing slightly husky.

"Dr. Vaughn…I don't know what to say…"

"Just please don't give up hope. Never, never stop hoping."

"Now, I can agree to that old boy," Robert said, thrusting out his hand. "Our profession is built on hope, wouldn't you say?"

"I would," Markus said, and they gripped hands.

_FIN_


End file.
